WASHINGTON — The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District (BID) told WUSA9 on Monday that small businesses could receive multiple months of free rent as part of a new program to help the area recover due to a high number of vacant office and retail spaces
The Golden Triangle area stretches 44 square blocks from Dupont Circle to Pennsylvania Avenue.
A spokesperson for the Golden Triangle BID said the area encompasses 34 million square feet of office space and can attract almost 90,000 workers a day.
However, the pandemic brought closures and forced many of the workers to work remotely.
Buildings that normally bustled with activity had only around 8% occupancy for months, according to BID data, while pedestrian counts were down 90%. The group's records also showed Metro ridership levels to be about 10% of non-pandemic levels.
Over a year after the pandemic spread to the district, the BID told WUSA9 that the Golden Triangle has 122 vacant office and retail spaces.
By fall, the spokesperson said the group hoped to get the area back on track to where it once was before businesses and workers left.
As part of the new Grow Golden program, established small businesses can apply to receive up to 12 months of free rent and "favorable terms" for extending their occupancy.
Business owners interested in applying can find more information here.
